Near the California border in Pahrump, Nevada, you’ll find a car for sale that may be utterly unique in the world today. Not only is it a 1950 Oldsmobile 98 Club Sedan with its swoopy fastback styling, but it also has the standard three-speed manual rather than the fast-selling Hydramatic. A three-on-the-tree might not raise any eyebrows in a lower-line 76 or even an 88, but the big-bodied 98? In a beautiful shade of “Crest Blue,” it has to be one of the most attractive Oldsmobiles of the early 1950s I’ve ever seen, and the stick shift makes it that much more appealing. Barn Finds reader Rocco B. stumbled onto it while perusing the L.A. craigslist, and though the its $25,000 price tag is advertised as “reduced,” I wonder if the seller will have to come down a little more to garner a sale.
The seller does say they’re in a “must sell” situation, but early ’50s cars aren’t exactly flying off the shelf these days, no matter how much people like me rave about them. From what I can glean from the seller’s text, they bought it from an 83-year-old friend without really considering their storage reality. In other words, it’s sitting out under a Nevada sun. It also sounds as if the 98 was a local car show winner, but now the clear coat is starting to lift in a couple places. The engine is advertised as a “Rocket 350,” but this is clearly a 135-horsepower 303, the “Rocket” Oldsmobile of song and NASCAR lore. The carburetor looks wild, but it appears to simply be a Rochester AA “Turtleback,” which I’ve read is not Rochester’s best effort at fuel metering. Still, it’s good to see it up on the manifold still plugging away after 75 years; it can’t be that bad.
Aside from a steering wheel cover that would make J.C. Whitney wince, the interior looks era-appropriate. Anyone who’s driven an early ’50s GM product knows about the cushy ride and wide open space in all directions. Sure, the glass area isn’t what it is in a modern car, but very little else compares when it comes to a living-room-on-wheels experience.
As I’ve mentioned before, you either like early ’50s cars or you don’t. If you do (and I wholeheartedly agree with you), this one clearly pushes all the right buttons. The seller claims that they’re ready to listen to reasonable offers, so what do you think is a fair price for this beautifully unique 98?
Man, this has GOT to be some kind of unicorn. A ninety eight with a stick. I wonder who ordered it that way and why. Saving a few bucks not ordering the Hydramatic? Wanting to squeeze all the performance you could with a stick but wanting the larger, more luxurious Ninety Eight? GM had a beautiful design with the fast back design with all there makes. I agree with Adam, this is one of the nicest early 50’s Oldsmobiles I’ve seen. This thing needs to get back into a garage if thats the case, before it deteriorates any more. Great color, great look too. Very nice early Rocket 98.
WOW x 98! A fastback manuel (!). I would in a nano-second. Gene Adams
I’d have ordered the manual transmission, favoring it over the automatic. I well recall, as a child riding in early-fifties Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs, the whining, clunky, jerky nature of the early Hydra-Matic transmissions, especially when they downshifted.
Yes some were that way, but a properly operating Hydramatic was not this way at all. And the Hydramatic would provide much faster acceleration
Put the Hydramatic behind my Olds engine in my ’53 Studebaker coupe and it really hauled on the dag strip Friend had his grandmothers ’54 Olds 4 door with a 3 on the tree and it was no slouch.
Pahrump, Nv. you say? Oh man, many a night listening to Art Bell, some really creepy stuff. The car? A generation ( or 2) from the norm of today. Us older folks look at this car, as the beginning of the hot rod era. No, it wasn’t some 47 valve Lexus, but like to admit it or not, back then the Asians were still in rickshaws, and WE got the ball rolling with performance right here. They only refined it.. Back then, this car meant business, it was meant to roll. As is, it wasn’t particularly fast, 0-60 in 15.5 seconds ( Hydramatic almost 18) and top speed about 90, but a more quality, smooth riding car you’d be hard pressed to find. GM across the board notoriously had great cars then. Again, these weren’t cheap, I read a base 98 sold for $2400, and option list a mile long, over $3grand easy. Awful pricey for Joe Lunchpail that had a Ford Mainline/Chevy DeLuxe budget for half the cost. I know, us “old”( mobile) farts would love to drive this, just so we could say you did. I wonder if that transfers to younger buyers. Cool car,,wait, a stick? Let’s keep looking,,,
Wow-you’re telling our age, Howard. Art Bell, replete with UFO sightings (generally attributed to the goings on at the nearby Area 51), government conspiracies (some of which were later found to be true 🤔), and railing against the 55 MPH speed limit. Good times..
Definitely a classy car and like Driveinstile said you have to wonder what the deciding factors were for a manual-performance? Frugality? Mechanical simplicity? Regardless, this is incredibly well kept/redone and if you’ve the urge to take it home do it soon, as it’s beginning to get warm there now. One way ticket to Lost Wages, err, Las Vegas, a short 45 minute jaunt to Pahrump and you’re on your way home with a very cool and unique old ride..
Good times.
just a reminder for Howard Ford mainline didn’t come out till 1952
Never heard of Art Bell, but heard about cat houses in that area!
Geeze, it’s been awhile since I last tuned in but isn’t Art Bell still on radio? My gosh, are the good old days flying by that quickly. And yes, this 50’s Olds has me drewling. First fastback I road in was our new 47 Buick. Great cars, great rides.
Regarding your take on glass area being small, have you ever tried to see out of anything being built nowadays? I can guarantee you the glass area in that is way better than virtually everything now. That said I would definitely like to have that car. Comfortable, roomy and surprisingly easy to drive. As far as the manual transmission I’d say it was ordered in base form by a dealer who used it as a “loss leader” to appeal to people who wanted a 98 but couldn’t swing the cost of a more uplevel version.
I haven’t compared square inches of glass, but I regularly drive a ’53 Buick, and I have to crane my head to see traffic lights, something I don’t have to do in any of my other cars.
Hey Aaron you reminded me, they used to have traffic light prisms for older cars, especially in the 50’s, there must’ve been a reason for it.
Never knew about these 98 fastbacks-one impressive looking ride with the legendary Rocket 88-I’m hearing Ike Turner now in my head!
Posting deleted by author. Hmmm. I like these early fifties cars too but how practical is it? If you’re a collector and only intend to show it fine, but even as an occasional driver on weekends and sunny days I think the novelty would wear off pretty quick. Now that 1970 98 featured earlier, that’s the ticket. It even had the same ugly steering wheel wrap.
Seeing this made me recall Ike Turner singing about his Olds. The pedals going through the floorboards, vacuum wipers, the red light prism glass and tube radio hum all came back in my memory. If HA is correct, $2400 base was more than most as a starting point by a considerable margin. This was also during the time GM expected to start you with a Chevrolet and step you up Pontiac, Olds, Buick and the big kahuna – Cadillac when you’ve hit the big time. The world this represents is long gone and I miss the predictability it came with. All 72 year old kids think this way, right?
Another beloved “ Torpedo-Back”! Beautiful design.
3sp std i have,52 caddy hearse with one,you would think a,t wold be a beter option
Would love to have this one! I own a 1948 Olds 98 with standard shift, radio delete, even turn signal delete. Someone wanted the new body style in 1948 but didn’t want any extra cost options.
Though I would prefer a Buick from this era, nothing wrong with an early Olds. :)
Stick shift was more economical, faster, cheaper, and automatics were still pretty new- not everyone trusted them yet.
they user caddy motors and hydramatics in army tanks
the posting has been deleted by author
Has the first pot I’ve seen that actually looks like one.
https://lasvegas.craigslist.org/cto/d/pahrump-1950-oldsmobile-98-futuristic/7831795339.html
Advert is still up…………..